Succession

After lunch, the elder cousin of my father drove me back to the convention center.

On our way we passed the China town. It was a Sunday afternoon but, to my surprise, the streets were amazingly quiet. I told my new acquaintance my impression.

“You’re right. In fact, many shops and restaurants closed down – and could never lease out again.” He nodded.

“Why? I think these shops should have sufficient business,” I was puzzled.

“No, not a problem of business or rent. The usual story is this: the parents got to retire, but their children do not want to take over the business – they were born here and had incorporated into the cosmopolitan country; they have better things to do.”

I was speechless. My mind was trying to digest the meaning of striking a balance between preserving your own culture and adapting to a new environment.

And, Sakura in Canada is, after all, a different species from that you find at Fujiyama.